I recently read an article about IT consultants using Twitter as a means to collaborate and resolve incidents. I must admit, I do not use Twitter, but I thought the idea was an interesting one. Some consultants currently use email to ask for help on an issue, which just adds to the clutter of employees’ already stuffed email boxes. Could the future solution be in this new social network tool? As a marketer, I know many companies use Twitter, and other social networks, as ways to market to their target audience. I even read gossip columns that showcase the funny and random “tweets” by celebrities. But the reality is these tools could be used for a variety of needs. I think many companies are struggling to find a simple and effective tool to share and properly document knowledge from users who can be in many different locations. There are other tools out now, like SharePoint, that are far superior in retaining and sharing data and solutions. The advantage of Twitter is not of course to retain, but to be a faster and less cluttered method of getting answers.

Some questions and concerns come to mind when using a social network tool. A possible negative is clients interpreting a consultant using Twitter for personal use and not as a consulting method. Another issue is once the problem is solved, how to retain the answer for other consultants to use in the future? I know consultants in the federal space would have different concerns regarding the use of a social network at their job sites.

Today it’s Twitter and tomorrow it could be something else. The internet keeps providing new tools and gadgets that can affect our lives and at times, our jobs.

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